8 Things You Need To Know This AM

8 Things You Need To Know This AM — Dec 21 2015

Looks like all those highly anticipated teaser trailers, product tie-ins, and pun-filled British weather reports did their job: J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars sequel now holds the record for the biggest domestic opening in movie history, raking in an estimated $238 million. The Force Awakens decimated the previous record holder, Jurassic World, which debuted with an eye-popping $208.4 million at the box office this summer. (L.A. Times)

A fake bomb hidden in the toilet forced an Air France flight to make an emergency landing.

Police in Kenya are questioning four passengers from an Air France flight to Paris in connection with a suspicious device that was discovered in the plane’s bathroom, forcing the pilots to request an emergency landing in Mombasa, Kenya. After the Boeing 777 was safely evacuated, authorities determined that the device was a fake explosive, assembled out of cardboard, paper, and a kitchen timer. (CNN)

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Tina Fey and Amy Poehler mocked Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” by introducing their very own “DopeSquad” on SNL.

The hashtag #squadgoals reached its full potential on Saturday Night Live, when hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler debuted their pseudo-music video, “DopeSquad.” The Sisters co-stars took a cue from Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” and paid homage to the group of real women who help them “juggle it all.” Featuring cameos from the likes of Amy Schumer, Gayle King, Robert Downey Sr., and the ladies’ gynecologist, Poehler and Fey prove that it really does take a village. (Read More)

A woman found a hidden camera in her Airbnb rental.

Edith Schumacher, who says that she likes to sleep in the nude, was horrified when her partner found a hidden camera on the third day of their Airbnb rental back in December of 2013. According to The Recorder, the camera was hidden under a pile of candles. Schumacher is now suing the host couple for invasion of privacy and emotional distress. (Read More)

Amy Schumer opened up about a critic who said she wasn’t “pretty enough” to star in Trainwreck.

Amy Schumer joined The Hollywood Reporter for a roundtable on writers, the internet’s dark power, and sexism. Schumer shared a story about one gross male critic who used his Trainwreck review as an opportunity to neg her. "With Trainwreck coming out, I was like, 'Everyone's going to say, She's not pretty enough to be in this movie,’” Schumer said. “And then, only one dude wrote that and people really attacked him, and then he redacted that and wanted to date me.” (E! News)

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Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid made their relationship Instagram official.

Posted to Malik's Instagram account with no caption or context, the black-and-white shot shows the pair in an intimate position. Hadid has her hand on his face — with fingers clenched to either give him a cheek massage or pop a pimple. Malik appears to have his eyes closed in pleasure, so we're betting it's more of a lovely feeling from her fingertips, rather than a personal grooming move. (Read More)

“Stoner Sloth,” the star of an Australian anti-weed PSA, is the internet’s new favorite thing.

There’s a new anti-drug star capturing the hearts and minds of audiences everywhere for all the wrong reasons. The Australian government launched a PSA campaign to “motive discontinued use of cannabis” centering around a “stoner sloth.” Yup: An anthropomorphized sloth enacts the dangers of chronic chronic use, failing at everything from a high school test to a family dinner. The ads quickly went viral due to their unintentional goofiness. (Read More)

Science suggests that readingHarry Potter can reduce prejudice.

According to a study conducted in Italy and the U.K., students who read Harry Potter and identified with The Boy Who Lived are more likely to express empathy for and openness towards marginalized social groups, like immigrants, homosexuals, and refugees. The study found that prolonged contact with an “outsider” or “other,” like Harry or Hermione, positively impacts a person’s attitudes towards minority groups. (Read More)